Celtics will open 2018-19 season at home vs. 76ers, and other schedule notes

By

Adam Himmelsbach

Globe Story,

August 8, 2018

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum hangs around the rim after his slam dunk against the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 of a second-round series. —Jim Davis/Globe Staff

With LeBron James leaving Cleveland to join the Lakers, ending his streak of eight consecutive seasons representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, the door is open for a new power to rise. And the NBA is making it quite clear that it views the Celtics and 76ers as two of the teams most likely to fill the void.

Boston and Philadelphia will face each other in Boston in the Oct. 16 season opener at TD Garden at 8 p.m. as part of TNT’s season tip-off doubleheader that also includes a game between the Thunder and Warriors. Then on Christmas Day, the Celtics and 76ers will face each other again at TD Garden. That game will be broadcast by ABC.

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On Oct. 19 on ESPN, the Celtics will visit the Toronto Raptors as part of the league’s nationally televised opening-week slate. Toronto finished four games ahead of the Celtics in the conference standings last season and last month traded DeMar DeRozan to the Spurs in a deal for star forward Kawhi Leonard.

The Celtics needed just five games to defeat the 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, though the series was more competitive than that result indicates. The Celtics will welcome back injured stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward this year, while the 76ers will continue to follow the lead of their two young stars, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

The Celtics-76ers game on Christmas is one of five matchups on the league’s marquee regular-season date. In the other games, the Knicks will face the Bucks, the Rockets will play the Thunder, the Lakers will play the Rockets and the Jazz will face the Trail Blazers.

The full NBA schedule is expected to be released later this week.

Opening week schedule

Date

Game

Time (ET)

Network

Tue., Oct. 16

76ers at Celtics

8 p.m.

TNT

Tue., Oct. 16

Thunder at Warriors

10:30 p.m.

TNT

Wed., Oct. 17

Pelicans at Rockets

8 p.m.

ESPN

Wed., Oct. 17

Mavericks at Suns

10:30 p.m.

ESPN

Thu., Oct. 18

Bulls at 76ers

8 p.m.

TNT

Thu., Oct. 18

Lakers at Trail Blazers

10:30 p.m.

TNT

Fri., Oct. 19

Celtics at Raptors

8 p.m.

ESPN

Fri., Oct. 19

Warriors at Jazz

10:30 p.m.

ESPN

Sat., Oct. 20

Raptors at Wizards

7 p.m.

NBA TV

Sat., Oct. 20

Rockets at Lakers

10:30 p.m.

ESPN

Sun., Oct. 21

Rockets at Clippers

9 p.m.

NBA TV

SOURCE: NBA

Christmas Day schedule

Game

Time (ET)

Network

Bucks at Knicks

Noon

ESPN

Thunder at Rockets

3 p.m.

ABC

76ers at Celtics

5:30 p.m.

ABC

Lakers at Warriors

8 p.m.

ESPN/ABC

Trail Blazers at Jazz

10:30 p.m.

ESPN

SOURCE: NBA

Martin Luther King Jr. Day scheduleThe games scheduled for Jan. 21, 2019.